Official minutes must include what kind of meeting regular or special, where and when the meeting was held, who was in attendance and absent. ALL motions, who made the motion, and whether the motion passed or failed. Discussion of any kind is not required or recommended to be in any posted minutes. Minutes should report all decisions that are made at a meeting.
Southern AEOE Conference Committee Meeting
Acorn Naturalists Store Classroom
22 February 2004, 10:00am - 4:00pm
Meeting called to order at 10:05am by Helen
In attendance: Helen de la Maza, Jason Westfall, Michael Charnofsky, Kris Pamintuan, Zayanne Thompson, Rebecca Sanchez, Judy Toothaker, Laura Vandezande, Maggie Wolfe, Gail Nelson
Motions:
Other decisions:
Next meeting is on March 28th, Sunday, at Camp Hess Kramer
Meeting adjourned at 3:27pm by Helen
Southern AEOE Conference Committee Meeting
Acorn Naturalists
22 February 2004, 10:00am - 4:00pm
Meeting called to order at 10:05am by Helen
In attendance: Helen de la Maza, Jason Westfall, Michael Charnofsky, Kris Pamintuan, Zayanne Thompson, Rebecca Sanchez, Judy Toothaker, Laura Vandezande, Maggie Wolfe, Gail Nelson
Agenda Items:
I. Conference Items
A. Keynote workshops - pre-registration required (either through conference registration or at the door), fee workshops
a. Casey Neill - max = 20, $15
b. David Abram - max = 40, $15
c. Abel Silvas - max. =?, $15
B. Abram books
a. We will purchase 150 books, don't know price of those books, so we don't know how much to charge for pre-sale books
b. Jason would like to get permission to reprint cover of book to put it in the newsletter
c. No pre-ordering of books
C. Budget review
a. We have a lot of money in our account, ($) a lot of which is earmarked for scholarships
b. The bank does not charge us for our account, we should keep our branch at the B of A in Redlands
c. We should look at using some of the $ to help build interest, etc.
d. Issue to address at state-wide meeting: We had to order new checks, they only have a line for one signature, not two - the bank only requires one signature, but our policy is to have two signatures - perhaps a couple of the exec. board members could have access to the bank accounts online for accountability & do away with the second signature - this would help with timing
D. T-shirts
a. Kathleen may not want to be in charge of t-shirts, she thinks that pre-ordering t-shirts is too much work & wants to just buy a bunch & sell them at the conference
b. Graphics are ready & look really great, text will be two lines at the bottom & will include 50th anniversary
c. Maggie will talk to Kathleen to get a feel for what her concerns are. We will offer 2 colors, long & short sleeve. If she doesn't want to do it, Jason will do the pre-ordering.
d. Do we want to do bags? Maggie will ask Kathleen, they may be from the same company.
e. Jason will write an article about the organic cotton t-shirt issue
E. Other merchandise
a. We still have mugs, we want to sell useful, recycled, good quality items
b. We can order 500 pencils made from recycled jeans/etc., with our name & website on them for $.27 ea. - yes
c. Nalgene bottles with our logo on them - wide mouth, large - yes
d. Frisbees made from recycled materials with our logo on them - yes
e. Buttons - no
f. Coasters made from recycled materials - not yet
g. Mugs made from recycled materials - not yet
h. Rulers made from recycled materials - not yet
i. Miniature trash cans with our logo (encourage people to only throw that much trash away each week; need to recycle or compost the rest) - not yet
F. Family Member Price
a. We decided about this at a previous meeting
b. Perhaps having a flat rate of $75 for any additional family member, but the additional family member who doesn't participate in conference doesn't have to become a member, meals & lodging included - if they attend conference/workshops, they must become a member and pay the regular registration fee
G. Meals
a. Armbands or not? Laura has some nice soft ones that are really soft & self-adhesive
b. There is a large group of day-use people who do not pay for meals
c. Name tags will be different colors - one color for full-price, another color for day-use
d. Have to have a name tag to get in
e. No armbands!!
H. Concierge
a. Rebecca will try to convince some of the folks that were working there to be concierge.
b. Concierge will also staff the merchandise table
c. Random volunteers can also be concierges
d. Maps printed larger, posted around site - very helpful
e. Can we compensate our volunteers who help with this? Jason will decide levels of compensation (volunteer gifts, not financial)
f. Marty from Acorn Naturalists can also help & we can give him a radio if he has any questions
g. Zayanne will make it a point to reconcile and take away the $ in between activities so that the person in charge of the merchandise table doesn't feel responsible for the wad o' money
I. Schedule review
a. Breakfast family style (we decided on buffet-style both days)
b. We can't say raffle - drawing is ok
c. Who leads yoga? Perhaps Laura's friend Isby or possibly Shilene???
d. RT said no to birding, Pete Devine may be willing to do it
e. Surfing - do we want to offer an am surfing workshop? No, they can do it on their own
f. Punctuality & timing are super important, we must keep people on track
g. Keynotes - we need to give them a 5 min. & 2 min. warning (Paul & George)
J. Job Fair
a. Debra Hetrick needs assistance with this as she has not been trained on the logistics
b. Judy will e-mail George to request that the COSA folks bring all of their job fair stuff, e-mail programs & presenters about their programs, also contact Dan Allison about his program
K. Scholarship procedure
a. We have 20 scholarships to offer of $95 ea.
b. Laura wrote up info., it is on the website; open ended
c. Postmarked by April 2 with conference registration
d. Presenter scholarship amount also has been worked out
e. We need to consider interns first for scholarships
L. COSA cost
a. They have negotiated prices different than our prices for the conference
b. They arrive Fri. lunch & dinner, Sat. breakfast & lunch, & a meeting spot
c. What they're trying to figure out is additional COSA fees for AEOE
d. They will need to pay $20 extra for their Fri-Sat. time
e. Single occupancy room = $95, room with double beds = $90 ea., they cannot be alone in a double room
f. This will be worked out later, once we get descriptions of the rooms & have more info
M. Review Registration Form
a. A few revisions of registration form
b. PO's should be mailed with registration forms; Helen will mail PO to Zayanne
N. Registration Packet - loose ends
a. Remove workshop presenter application as we have enough workshops
b. First page of registration packet will also be able to double as a flier
Short Break
O. Volunteer Coordinator
a. Melody Mischke will sit at volunteer table while Jason is playing Fri. night
b. Send volunteers to talk to Jason
c. Change subject lines in e-mails (as per Maggie's e-mail) to clarify what's being discussed (this was an aside, not part of volunteer discussion!)
d. What volunteers are needed for:
i. Parking
1. Foreman (go-to person)
2. Friday (2 greeters, 5 others, signs out, directing parking)
3. Sat. am (fewer than Friday, but still a few in the morning)
ii. Meals
1. Foreman (Kris)
2. Breakfast set-up & clean-up (10 people)
3. Lunch set-up & clean-up (10 people)
4. Dinner set-up & clean-up (10 people)
iii. Pre-Post entertainment clean-up
1. Foreman
2. Helping pick-up trash
3. Helping band-members with clean-up
iv. Workshop set-up (helping presenters)
1. Foreman (Judy T.)
2. Volunteers to make sure presenters have everything they need
v. Concierge
1. Sat. breakfast (2 people)
2. Sat. lunch (2 people)
3. Sat. dinner (2 people)
vi. Presenter Liaison (see iv. Above)
vii. Registration (need people to help staff tables - will be mostly Board members North and South)
viii. Post conference clean-up
1. Need volunteers to help with this
ix. Housing
1. Foreman (Laura)
2. Camping - need volunteers to point out locations, answer questions
3. Dorms - need volunteers to point out locations, answer questions
x. Collecting $ for paid workshops
1. Need someone who can be in charge of the list and collecting money
2. 4 people who will take $ & check people off as they come to the 4 keynote workshops
3. During the registration process, Helen will select 4 responsible people that will be attending the workshops and let them know about the list and collecting money
4. Signs
P. Diversity Strand
a. Working in coordination with the GSEEC (Golden State Environmental Education Consortium) people who are offering to bring in their top people who are into work in diversity issues
b. We are hoping to have 2 workshops on diversity per workshop session
Q. Closing Ceremony
a. Laura will be responsible for it
b. GSEEC would like to be a part of this
c. Ideas:
i. 50 years of AEOE & 50 great things about AEOE
ii. Inspirational - what are you going to do to get outside the lines?
iii. Have Mati Waiya do a closing (like the opening he did last time)
iv. Instead of having an outside person coming in to tell us what to do, having one of us give an inspirational-type closing to connect us
v. "Powers of Ten" as an environmental/outdoor educator
R. History Table/50th Anniversary Celebration
a. Janice Smith knows about it, is wondering about locations - Gildred Hall
b. Cake - Hess Kramer will make us cake
c. Janice could do the brief (10 min.) presentation at 7pm after dinner on Sat., introduce past Howard Bell winners
S. Review workshops/presenters list
a. Everything is good
b. Categories/strands are great
c. There's a guy who is coming with a trailer - tide pool cruiser - workshop is in the trailer, put him next to the pool
d. We have 59 out of 60 workshops & more are coming!!!
T. Create Presenter Contact Sheet for Attendees
a. Judy will make this
U. Liability Form
a. A liability form is ready for us to use, but concern was expressed about it
b. Another option is to have a smaller version with lines underneath it for people to sign
c. We need a separate liability form for family members, etc.
d. Zayanne will be responsible for this
e. Liability forms will be kept with conference registration forms
V. Conference Committee Jobs
a. Jason will be contacting Paul about sound equipment
W. Review Howard Bell nominations
a. George faxed nominations to Helen
b. Five nominations
i. [unnamed]
ii. [unnamed]
iii. [unnamed]
iv. [unnamed]
v. [unnamed]
c. [unnamed] & [unnamed] were nominated
d. Discussion about sticking with people who are in line with the AEOE mission, who are or have been involved with AEOE or EE/Outdoor Ed
e. This decision will be tabled for later (is it a state exec. board or state board decision?)
i. Helen will contact George and figure it out from there
X. Howard Bell Plaque
a. Janice hasn't ordered a new plaque yet, Helen will follow up with her
Y. Volunteer Gifts
a. Frisbees
b. Pencils
c. Sale conference t-shirts
d. Mugs
e. Gifts will be given to people who volunteer based on amount of time volunteered
f. Jason will decide appropriate volunteering levels & gifts
Z. Evaluations
a. George has the generic forms
b. On the back, he will put specific conference info
AA. Anyone planning on taking time off of work
a. There is a total of $500 avail. for reimbursement
b. It is an option for us if we feel we need to take time off of work
BB. PayPal
a. Use it for buying goods online without a credit card
b. How do we pay out? You have to have an account to be able to pay out or to receive $ through PayPal
c. Is this something we want to do eventually? Planting the seed for statewide meeting
CC. CHK for 2006
a. The date that we suggested (April 28-30, 2006) is booked, but March 31-April 2 is open, but requested May 5-7 (weekend before mother's day) instead
b. Perhaps we should wait until after this conference to hear people's comments about returning to the same site again
c. We all like seeing other sites, also
DD. Other
a. Michael would like to get some organizations to give a quick blurb about their organizations at the conference
i. CREEC, California Science Teachers Association, National Association for Interpretation, NAAEE, Association for Experiential Education & possibly COSA
b. 16 workshops per session
c. 350 max. capacity for Dining Hall
d. City Safari photos
i. Will use Polaroid, $3 cost of picture (actual cost is $1), Zayanne will bring change
ii. Optional to charge $2 & use their own camera
iii. Will bring rescued snakes & one of the large lizards
iv. Between 11:30am-1pm Saturday
e. E-mail from Bill Andrews that says he may not be able to attend because he may not be able to get approval from his supervisor
i. We need to send a letter with info about - Michael will send him a flier & formal invitation
II. Southern AEOE Board Items
A. Review Newsletter
a. Being passed around during meeting, give Jason input & feedback
b. Newsletter needs to be mailed out March 5th at the very latest
B. Review Richard's article on diversity
a. If interested in the article, Helen can e-mail it out
b. Perhaps we need to add info about what we are doing with the Diversity Strand
C. Non-profit status
a. Congratulations to Zayanne!!! She is done with all the work!
b. At this point we are just waiting to hear back from the lawyer
c. Total cost was approx....
D. Travel reimbursements
a. We can use reimbursement form for coming to meetings
E. Nicholas Brown questions for master's
a. In AEOE history, what have been some milestone moments for the organization & the industry of EE?
b. What has AEOE done to improve the process of EE?
c. Have you had any controversial issues with any environmental activist groups and/or government associations in the way you conduct AEOE and its policies?
d. What do you want and hope for in the future of AEOE?
F. Surfing Activity
a. Should we plan a surfing activity at Camp Surf with Zayanne for May? - yes
i. May 15th or May 22nd *, Zayanne will check her calendar
ii. Friday night optional camping on the beach, have a fire, bring instruments
iii. Saturday night camping on the beach
iv. Surfing both Sat. & Sun.; surf lessons, walk to the Tijuana Estuary, etc.
b. One concern is that Laura is putting lots of time into planning activities but not many people are showing up
G. Fall Conference
a. Possibly at Blue Sky Meadow?
i. Oct. 22-24th, 2004
b. Can try to do it at Loch Leven???
c. Michael sent an e-mail about possible locations
i. The Wildlands Conservancy land - he'll follow up with them
H. NAEE Affiliate
a. AEOE will send 2 people to the conference in Mississippi in October
b. You must be an NAAEE member
I. Jackie McCort
a. Used to work with the Sierra Club's Youth in Wilderness program
b. She is starting a new organization
c. She is trying to coordinate EE in the state, fundraising & lobbying efforts for EE
d. She asked us to be a supporter, we are willing to participate but have to have state-wide agreement
J. Lifetime Institutional Membership Category
a. Recommended amount is $300
b. This is a statewide decision
K. Review of AEOE Board Logistics under new Bylaws
a. Elections take place in the fall
b. State board anoints/knights newly elected positions in November
L. Chair-elect
a. We still need one, anyone interested? No one at this time
M. AEOE Membership Brochure updated?
a. Not yet, Michael & Jason are working on it
N. Other
a. Zayanne can e-mail cash advance/ cash expense forms if we need them
b. Expense report
i. Fill it out, staple receipts to the back, be sure to put what things are for so it can go in the appropriate category in the budget
c. Cash Advance Form
i. Just fill out the top and what it's for (don't fill in the itemized section until after you've made the purchases)
ii. Attach receipts with any extra money & send back to Zayanne
d. Membership numbers
i. Northern = approximately 900 newsletters get sent out each time
ii. Southern = approximately 300 newsletters get sent out each time
f. Nike Pro deal
i. If you want the pro deal, e-mail your name and address to Ray Cramer (raycramer@hotmail.com) - you get 50% off of all ACG Nike products
g. Rebecca's e-mail address becmara@yahoo.com
Next meeting is on March 28th, Sunday, at Camp Hess Kramer
Motions:
Other decisions:
Action Items:
Helen:
Judy:
Jason:
Michael:
Zayanne:
Kris, Laura, Gail:
Everyone:
Meeting adjourned at 3:27pm by Helen